1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an amusement ride system giving riders of an amusement ride a good view of a screen provided along the movement path of the amusement ride.
2. Description of the Related Art
An amusement ride system having riders of its amusement ride to get a thrill of falling by driving down the amusement ride has already been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-15249). In this amusement ride system, a display means is provided to extend along the up and down moving directions of the amusement ride in front of the seats accommodating riders so that the images and light displayed on the display means can move up and down in response to up and down movements of the amusement ride.
This known amusement ride system, however, uses CFRT as the display means for representation of images, which cannot represent large images. Therefore, it has been difficult to display distant landscapes with realty. In addition, the system needs a large number of display means and is inevitably high in cost.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an amusement ride system overcoming the above-mentioned problems, namely, capable of representing large images, thereby displaying distant landscapes, and reducing the cost because of not requiring a large number of display means.
According to the invention, there is provided an amusement ride system including an amusement ride for a rider to ride, and a drive device for moving the amusement ride along a traveling path, comprising:
a display screen provided to extend along the traveling path; and
an image projector for projecting an image toward the display screen, the image projector extending along one side of said traveling path opposite from the display screen,
the amusement ride being adapted to orient the line of vision of the rider on the amusement ride in a direction transverse to the image projecting direction of the image projector.
With the amusement ride system having the above-summarized configuration, even when the display screen extending along the traveling path of the amusement ride has a wide display area in accordance with a long extension of the traveling path, the image projector can display a continuous image without interruption over a relatively wide area of the display screen, thereby to give a vivid representation of the image.
The configuration of the amusement ride that orients the line of vision of the rider transverse to the image projecting direction of the image projector ensures offsetting the line of vision of the rider from a part of the screen containing a shade of the amusement ride made by interference of the projected light from the image projector by the amusement ride to always give the rider vivid representation of the image with no shade.
The amusement ride system may further comprise a floor, a floor display screen extending along said floor, and an image projector for projecting an image onto the floor display screen, thereby to give the rider a feeling of sky swimming more effectively.
When the traveling path extends vertically and the amusement ride is adapted to orient the line of vision of the rider to bow forwardly aslant, it is possible to give the rider on the amusement ride a highly vivid sense of falling in the sky.
The seat for the rider to sit on can preferably bow aslant forwardly of the rider while the amusement travels up and down, such that the rider is most likely to take a posture orienting the line of vision thereof onto a part of the display screen representing an image of ground sceneries.
An embracing means is preferably provided to embrace the rider on the seat while the amusement ride travels up and down, thereby to hold the rider in a stable posture sitting on the seat and thereby preserve the rider safe even when orienting the line of vision of the rider on the seat by a large angle with respect to a horizontal plane.
When the amusement ride is partly cut out to be opened over an area forward and downwardly aslant forward of the seat, it is possible to give the rider a sense of actually falling in the sky and give a taste of thrill.
When the traveling path may be horizontal with or without vertical undulation, the amusement ride is preferably adapted to orient the line of vision of the rider thereon toward a region of said display screen distant in the traveling direction from a region thereof normal to the current position of the amusement ride. In this case, a clear image of outdoor sceneries can be given to the rider on the amusement ride traveling along the ground plane over a wide traveling range of the amusement ride with a few image projecting means.
The amusement ride preferably has a seat for the ride to sit on, and the seat preferably faces forwardly aslant from the traveling direction of the amusement ride. Thus the rider can easily watch the image representing the landscape along the traveling path without twisting the head.
The image projected on the display screen preferably contains a moving object that moves in the opposite direction from the traveling direction of the amusement ride. In this case, the rider on the amusement ride will feel a traveling speed faster than the actual traveling speed of the amusement ride because the object in the image flys in the opposite direction. Therefore, even in a relatively narrow space, the rider can feel as moving in a wider space at a high speed.
Then the amusement ride has a seat for a rider to sit on, and a blower means is provided to blow a wind from under the seat toward the rider on the seat, it is possible to directing a strong blow of the wind caused by the travel toward the face and clothes of the rider on the amusement ride, thereby to remarkable increase the sense of speed.
According to the invention, there is also provided an amusement ride system having a seat for a rider to sit on, comprising: a display screen for representation of an image thereon; an image display device for displaying the image on the display screen; a drive device for moving the seat; and a means for controlling the image display device to display the image on the display screen in response to activation of the drive device. Thus the image projected on the display screen can be changed synchronously with the travel of the amusement ride.
The image display device may include an image control device for controlling the image synchronously with the travel of the seat, and an image producing means for generating the image in response to a signal from the image control device, thereby to enable easy and adequate generation of an image to be displayed on the display screen.
According to the invention, there is further provided an amusement ride system having a seat for a rider to sit on, comprising; a display screen for representation of an image thereon; an image display device for displaying said image on said display screen; a seat drive device for moving said seat; and a drive control device for controlling said seat drive device in response to activation of said image display device such that said seat drive device moves said seat in response to a condition of representation of the image on said display screen by said image display device. Thus the seat can be driven in accordance with the image displayed on the display screen to orient the rider on the seat onto the image on the display screen.
A traveling path and an amusement ride traveling on the traveling path may be provided in an interior space of the amusement ride, and the seat may be borne on the amusement ride, thereby to enable quick and precise change of orientation of the seat on the amusement ride traveling along the traveling path.